Best Stocking Stuffers for Under $25

These small but mighty gifts are sure to please

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Have a price range in mind for a holiday gift but don't have any stocking stuffer ideas for that special someone?

The experts at Consumer Reports put together a series of gift guides that are grouped by price. Here, we focus on some of our top-rated products for less than $25—perfect for stocking stuffers, even if the stockings may need to stretch a bit to fit some of these items!

Go to Consumer Reports’ Holiday Gift Guide for more gift ideas, updates on deals, expert product reviews, insider tips on shopping, and much more.

Alaska Bear Natural Silk Sleep Mask

Silk! For $10! It's real and so cozy, CR's Angela Lashbrook says about this sleeping mask. She noted that it blocked all light without pressing down uncomfortably against her nose and making her feel suffocated, which she said can be a problem due to her small face. CR's team tried the single-strap version, which kept the mask in place for most of them throughout the night. It felt luxurious despite the price.

For more options: Best Sleep Masks

Mzoo Sleep Mask

Give the gift of a better snooze or a more satisfying catnap. The Mzoo is affordable, well designed, and effective at blocking light for most face shapes and head sizes. CR's team of evaluators had a wide range of preferences and needs, yet most agreed that the Mzoo mask was a great option.

For more options: Best Sleep Masks

Gaiam Foldable Yoga Mat

For that morning meditation or midday stretch, a yoga mat can be a nice gift. We found that this mat dries quickly but offers minimal cushioning. It has only a fair amount of grip on the floor and on its top surface. Instead of rolling up, it folds into a 10x12-inch rectangle.

Thermos Nissan Intak Water Bottle (24 oz.)

Keep your giftee hydrated with this Thermos water bottle, which our evaluators found to be a reasonably priced, sturdy option for typical gym workouts. The top of the lid has a rotating tracker to help you remember how many bottles you drank, a feature that may encourage you to monitor your daily intake. This bottle is impact-resistant and dishwasher-durable, according to the marketing materials, and our team appreciated those details.

For more options: Best Water Bottle to Take to the Gym

Adidas Don't Rest Alphaskin Sports Bra

The Adidas Don't Rest Alphaskin Sports Bra is a traditional compression style, with a racerback and no adjustable features. The racerback is made with a thin, loosely knit material that's ultra-breathable. It offers a great fit for some, but the long, nonadjustable straps limit its audience to those with longer torsos.

Champion Everyday Sports Bra

This adjustable sports bra from Champion is almost like a T-shirt bra, with its defined, lightly padded cups, and indeed, it can double as a T-shirt bra if desired. It has adjustable, convertible straps and three sets of hooks in the band, and comes in sizes XS to 2XL. It's on the plain side stylewise, but it's a budget-friendly, versatile bra.

Herschel Charlie RFID Card Case Wallet

Looking more like a coin purse than a wallet, Herschel's Charlie slim wallet offers RFID protection in its four pockets, including a larger sleeve in the middle that opens to reveal a signature white-and-red striped lining, similar to a tiny tag on the side. The wallet feels stiff but not unpleasantly so; it doesn't flop or fold easily even when it's empty. The wide array of styles available for the Charlie is impressive. The only ding on this one is that there are three tags inside the middle pocket, one with branding, one listing materials, and another with a serial number. There's no easy way to remove the tags that our writer could find without damaging the wallet. The tags got in the way when placing cards in this compartment and were distracting to what is otherwise a simple and very stylish design.

Vulkit VC-104 Slim Wallet

It has a pop-up cardholder design, and we found that the Vulkit VC-104 slim wallet has another big advantage going for it: price. At around $20, you could consider this a low-risk set of training wheels for a minimalist wallet to see whether you or your giftee like the change. Vulkit also offers a wide range of colors for the VC-104, including two-tone versions.

Serman Brands 1.0 RFID Blocking Wallet

Serman Brands’ 1.0 RFID Blocking Wallet wins hands-down in one category: the nicest packaging. In fact, the leather wallet's elaborate box makes it an easy choice as a gift. It's a very nice-feeling accessory with a suedelike feel. After only a few days of use, however, the material got pretty scuffed up just from inserting and removing cards from an outside slot. The money clip holds cash tight but adds thickness to the fold.

Ello Campy

Impressive performance coupled with an enamel splatterware-inspired design make for an insulated mug that's functional and good-looking to boot. In our labs, the Ello Campy mug kept water hot for 5 hours in a temperature-retention test, earning a Very Good rating. It also has a top that's exceptionally easy to clean, with few crevices. The mug has two gaskets, both of which are easy to remove and replace. The spring-loaded sipping mechanism is easy to slide open with a single hand. It's on sale at Amazon in a bunch of fun colors right now as well.

For more options: Best Insulated Mugs

Thermos Stainlesss King (16 oz.)

This stellar mug from Thermos kept drinks hot for an impressive 7½ hours in our tests. It also has an easy-to-clean lid, which earns a rating of Very Good. But one of the three lid gaskets can't be removed or replaced, so when it goes, so goes your mug. The tapered design means it will fit in the cupholder of most cars.

Bonus: It has a handy tea hook on the underside of the lid, so you can suspend a tea bag in water without losing it inside.

For more options: Best Insulated Travel Mugs

Fellow Joey Double Wall Ceramic Coffee Mug

Give the java enthusiast a better vessel for their brew. According to Bernie Deitrick, a CR test engineer, compact mugs with multiple small servings (rather than one big pour) can optimize the flavor and retain the heat of coffee. These Fellow Joey mugs are up to the task.

For more options: Best Coffee Mugs for Keeping a Brew Warm

Aerolatte To-Go Milk Frother

The Aerolatte To-Go is a nifty little handheld frother that's capable of frothing up a variety of milks both hot and cold, including plant-based milks. Using it has a bit of a learning curve, but we were able to get the hang of it in just a few minutes. This Aerolatte is also a cinch to clean: You simply run it in a cup of soapy water for a bit, then run it out of the cup to dry.

For more options: Best Milk Frothers

Primula Burke Cold Brew Coffee Maker PBPBK-5101

The Primula Burke Cold Brew Coffee Maker PBPBK-5101 is the most inexpensive cold-brew coffee maker in our ratings—and one of the best. It receives an Excellent rating for convenience. This Primula comes with a glass carafe, and most of its parts are dishwasher-safe. Of all the cold-brew machines we’ve tested, it's the only model that calls for a full 24-hour brew time, but you might find the results worth the wait. Just make sure your intended has a rather large stocking to fit this one.

For more options: Best Cold Brew Coffee Makers of the Year

Amazon Basics Stainless Steel Electric Kettle

This AmazonBasics kettle is made of stainless steel and is one of the least-expensive kettles in our tests.

It's small, though, holding just 4 cups of water, the least of the kettles we’ve tested. It's among the fastest to bring our testing standard of 4 cups of water to a boil, clocking in at just under 4 minutes and earning a Very Good rating in our time-to-boil tests.

For more options: Best Electric Kettles

Müeller V-Pro 5 Blade Mandoline

We tried out 11 mandoline slicers at home, and this one by Müeller was the most "extra," and by that we mean it had the most variety of attachments. it can make thick cuts, beautiful thin slices, and fun waffle cuts. The julienne blades are easy to use, too.

For more options: Best Mandolines

Kyocera Ceramic Mandoline

When it comes to the mini but mighty Kyocera Ceramic Mandoline, we liked the simplicity and minimalism of having only one sharp blade on a slim, easy-to-store paddle. This mandoline slices hard and medium foods evenly and beautifully. But it struggles a bit with softer foods and is too narrow to slice a whole large onion.

For more options: Best Mandoline Slicers

KitchenIQ Deluxe Diamond Edge Grip 2-Stage

It's hard to believe that this mouse-sized sharpener, our budget pick, would be able to put an edge on a knife, but it does. The KitchenIQ is a simple little sharpener with two stages. The coarse stage is for damaged or seriously dull knives, while the fine slot is for a knife that has just lost its edge. The angles are set for European-style knives—KitchenIQ doesn't specify the exact angle—but CR's Paul Hope still found that both his knives emerged with a sharp edge that allowed it to effortlessly slice through onions and tomatoes.

For more options: Best Knife Sharpeners for Chef's Knives

W&P Porter Sandwich Bag

The leak- and stain-resistant silicone W&P Porter Sandwich Bags take up little storage space and provide the best vacuum seal for sous vide and freezer storage. The seals are easy to open and close, too. We loved that they can be turned inside out for easy washing. The collection also has stand-up bags with a flat base to keep everything upright.

Stasher Silicone Reusable Storage Bags

Stasher bags fared well in our at-home evaluation of five silicone food storage bags. This bag protects food from freezer burn, has a strong seal that prevents leaks, and bounces back from food stains—something most other bags couldn't do. The weight of the bag is printed on it, so grocers can tare the weight of your bulk foods during checkout. Stasher bags come in a variety of sizes and colors, and others may be on sale.

Chef'n FreshForce Citrus Juicer

In evaluating the best manual citrus squeezers, the Chef’n FreshForce juicer came out on top. It's easy to use and has a comfortable to grip—and it's especially convenient when juicing multiple lemons in one sitting. Another bonus? The interior well of the squeezer features detailed ribbing to grip citrus in place. It does requires more effort with unripe citrus, but the same can be said of most other squeezers.

For more options: Best Citrus Squeezers

Zulay 2-in-1 Lemon Lime Squeezer

The Zulay 2-in-1 citrus squeezer is meant to serve as a versatile device that can work with lemons and limes. In our at-home evaluations of the best citrus squeezers, we found that this model was somewhat easy to use, though it still required a bit of effort and wasn't as mess-free as other devices. That said, the double flaps make this one conducive to squeezing citrus of varying sizes.

For more options: Best Citrus Squeezers

True Wooden Finish Cocktail Shaker

Do you have a budding bartender on your gift list? In CR's recent evaluation, we found the True Wooden Finish Cocktail Shaker a well-priced shaker that's best for beginners, with a built-in sieve for easy cocktail-making. But if you’re shopping for a hardcore mixologist in your life, it's worth noting that this wasn't the most durable of the bunch we tried.

For more options: Best Cocktail Shakers

Crate & Barrel Stainless Steel Cocktail Shaker

Made of stainless steel, this tin-on-tin shaker from Crate and Barrel fits about two drinks and has a maximum fill line that helps prevent overfilling. The seal is supertight, resulting in leak-free shaking. It's also dishwasher-safe, which makes it a cinch to clean.

For more options: Best Cocktail Shakers

Château Montaud Côtes de Provence Rosé

The rosé-enthusiast on your list will certainly appreciate this blend from Château Montaud, which impressed in an evaluation of the best boxed wines. One of our tasters found it to be a juicy, medium-bodied wine, with a silky mouthfeel and subtle tannins. With notes of summer dew melon, strawberries, and honeysuckle, this wine is rich and complex but still easy to drink. Though we tried this wine from a box, it also comes in the bottled version for under $25.

For more options: Best Boxed Wines

Skullcandy Dime True Wireless

These earbuds offer remarkable performance for the price. Above-average sound quality and a decent battery life make them a good budget pick and a great stocking stuffer.

For more options: Best Headphones Under $100

TP-Link Kasa Smart WiFi Lightbulb Multicolor KL125

Brighten up your gift recipient's life with a smart bulb that can change colors. The TP-Link Kasa Smart KL125 offers the best bang for your buck among the 10 smart lightbulbs we evaluated. It retails for $15 per bulb and offers a great array of colors and dimming performance that come very close to the pricier Philips Hue. The bulb also works with Amazon Alexa, Google Home/Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings for voice and/or app control.

For more options: Best Smart Lightbulbs

Turtle Beach Recon 50

This is a wired model with cables that descend from both earcups. As one user in our study noted, that can be a nuisance.

Inline controls let you adjust the volume and mute the mic. The mic can also be removed if you want to use the headphones to listen to music and movie soundtracks. The included PC splitter cable provides access to headphone and mic jacks on computers.

The headset is compatible with a Mac or PC, PS5 and PS4, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One, and mobile devices that accept a 3.5mm audio plug, but you have to choose the correct model for your computer or console.

For more options: How to Choose a Great Gaming Headset

Google Nest Mini (2nd Gen)

If you’re looking for a cheap way into the smart speaker world—or an inexpensive gift—the Google Home Mini could be the ticket.

For only $25, the Mini gives you access to Google Assistant, which some users find a bit more intuitive than Amazon's Alexa. Google Assistant features strong search capabilities, although it supports fewer third-party apps than Alexa and its shopping functions are less robust.

The sound quality is one place where the cost trade-off is quite apparent. Though the tiny speaker is fine for spoken-word content such as podcasts, our testers found that it's not really good enough for enjoyable music listening.

An option: You can impart smart speaker functionality to an existing wireless speaker by pairing it with a Home Mini.

For more options: Best Smart Speakers of 2022

Adesso iMouse M20B

Aside from the scoops on the sides to rest a thumb and a finger, the design of this mouse is fairly typical.

The horizontal orientation places stress on the forearm and wrist, making this model only slightly better than a regular mouse for anyone seeking relief from pain. The iMouse M20B features six programmable buttons for keyboard shortcuts and browser controls (forward, back, etc.), three dpi (dots per inch) settings (800/1200/1600) that help you fine-tune the device's sensitivity, and a matte finish that feels comfortable under the fingers and palm. But the low profile of the scroll wheel makes it less easy to locate and activate.

The USB dongle provided for a wired connection can't be stored in the mouse, which may make it easy to lose. And there's no left-handed option.

For more options: Best Ergonomic Mouse for You

Anna Kocharian

Anna Kocharian is a shopping editor at Consumer Reports who focuses on home, organization, and the consumer marketplace. She previously covered interior design, product reviews, and market trends as the digital editor of Domino. Anna has over a decade of experience in lifestyle journalism and has written extensively on the subject matter for publications including Apartment Therapy, Food52, and more. She currently resides in New York City.